The Burgess Animal Book for ChildrenBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
The Burgess Animal Book for Children
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Animal behavior -- Juvenile literature; Zoology -- Juvenile literature
“Old Man Coyote is a good father and husband and a good provider
for his family. He and Mrs. Coyote have a large family every year,
sometimes as many as ten babies. Their home is in the ground and
is very similar to that of Reddy Fox. They eat almost everything
eatable, including such animals and birds as they can catch, Frogs,
Toads, Snakes and insects, dead bodies they may find, and even some
fruits. Mr. and Mrs. Coyote often hunt together. Sometimes, when
the children are full-grown, they all hunt together. When they do
this they can pull down Lightfoot the Deer.
“Old Man Coyote has one of the strangest voices to be heard anywhere,
and he delights to use it, especially at night. It is like many
voices shouting together, and one who hears it for the first time
cannot believe that all that sound comes from one throat.
“His big cousin, Howler the Gray Wolf, sometimes called Timber Wolf--
is found now only in the forests of the North and the mountains of
the Great West. Once he roamed over the greater part of this great
country. Howler is as keen-witted as, and perhaps keener-witted
than, Reddy Fox or Old Man Coyote, and added to this he has great
strength and courage. He is one of the most feared of all the
people of the Green Forest. In summer when food is plentiful,
Howler and Mrs. Wolf devote themselves to the bringing up of their
family and are careful not to be overbold. But when winter comes,
Howler and his friends get together and hunt in packs. With their
wonderful noses they can follow Lightfoot the Deer and run him down.
They kill Sheep and young Cattle. The harder the winter the bolder
they become, and they have been known to attack man himself. In the
Far North they grow especially large, and because of the scarcity of
food there in winter, they become exceedingly fierce. They can go an
astonishingly long time without food and still retain their strength.
But hunger makes them merciless. They will not attack each other,
but if one in the pack becomes injured, the others will turn upon him,
and kill and eat him at once.
“Howler and Mrs. Wolf mate for life, and each is at all times loyal
to the other. They are the best of parents, and the little Wolves
are carefully trained in all that a Wolf should know. Always the
hand of man has been against them, and this fact has developed their
wits and cunning to a wonderful degree. Man in his effort to destroy
them has used poison, cleverly hiding it in pieces of meat left where
Howler and his friends could find them. Howler soon found out that
there was something wrong with pieces of meat left about, and now it
is seldom that any of his family come to harm in that way. He is
equally cunning in discovering traps, even traps buried in one of
his trails. Sometimes he will dig them up and spring them without
being caught.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account